Locker



March 6, 1928.

gray/QJ E. D. KASER LOGKER Filed March 7, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet \l Zal/final? [2- /TZ/v;

Patented Mar. 6, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EVERETT DEE KASEB, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO DURABILT STEEL LOCKEB C0., F AURORA, ILLINOIS.

Looxna.

Application med March 7, leer. serial No. 173,561.

This invention relates to improvements in lockers and the like, and especially to garment lockers wherein a narrow vertically disposed compartment is provided for hanging long garment-s, such as coats and trousers, and wherein a. horizontally disposedor wide and shallow compartment related with the coat compartment is provided for a hat or other objects too wide for the coat compartment.

' The main objects of this invention are to provide improved interlocking means whereby one compartment is locked by locking the other compartment; to provide improved means whereby the door of the controlling compartment may be closed and locked regardless of the position of the door of the other compartment and the last named door,

if open may be closed and will become automatically locked on being closed thereafter;

and to provide simple, substantial and economical mechanism for accomplishing this purpose.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanyingv drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a, perspective front view of the locker.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section of the locker taken on a plane parallel with the front and viewed from the rear.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, with a porl tion of the upper door shown in partly closed position.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2. l

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section similar to Fig. 4, showing a modified form of the connecting lever.

In the form shown in the drawings, the locker 1 is divided into four compartments by two spaced horizontal partitions 2 and 3 in the upper portion and a central vertical partition 4 in the lower portion, the partition 4 bein joined to the transverse partition 3. Thls forms the upper horizontally elongated hat compartments 5 and 6 located one above the other, and the vertically elongated coat compartments 7 and 8 located side by side below the hat compartments. The compartments are provided with the 55 doors 9, 10, 11 and 12 respectively. The

coat compartment doors 11 and 12 are hinged at the adjoining edges to the central partition 4 and the upper or hat compartment doors 9 and 10 are hinged to respectively opposite sides of the locker 1 so that the free or swinging edge of the door 9 is in vertical alinement with the swinging edge of the door 11, while the door l0 is in similar relation to the door 12.

The locker may be of sheet metal con-` struction throughout, the doors being preferably formed from a single sheet withv flanges on all four sides which are faced inwardly when the doors are hung in the openings. At the swinging edges of the lower doors the metal is formed into a rectangular reinforcing tube within which the locking bar is mounted, this structure being like that described in my application, Serial No. 460,315 tiled April 11, 1921, which issued April 7, 19:25, as Patent No. 1,532,245.

A connection mounted in the cabinet walls 1s provided between the upper door of the hat compartment 5 and the door of the coat compartment '7, and a corresponding connection between the hat compartment 6 and the coat compartment S, so that each user, by unlocking his own hat compartment also has access to one but only one of the coat compartments.

The rocking levers 13 :nid 14 are mounted in the opposite sides `of the locker, the lever 13 providing an inter-connection between the doors 10 and 12, and the lever 14 providing an inter-connection between the doors 9 `and l1. The rocking levers are similar in construction and operation, except that the lever 13 is shorter since the doors 10 and 12 are closer together. Therefore, a description of the lever 14 will also apply vto the lever 13.

The lever 14 is medially pivoted to a bracket 15 secured to the locker 1, and its upper end is urged outwardly by means of a leaf spring 16, which is secured in the bracket 15 and bears against the edge of the lever 14 below the pivot end 1T. The lever is positioned inside of the front flange 18 of the locker, adjacent to the swinging edges of the doors 9 and 11. The outward movement of the upper end of the lever 14 is stopped by .contacting with the flange 18.

The upper end -19 of the lever 14 is bent over so as to project into the path of the in-y wardly projecting iange 20 on the swinging edge of the door 9, and when the door 9 is closed the upper end of the lever 14 1s pressed inwardly to rotate thel lever clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 4.

The swinging edge of the lower door 11 is formed to provide a tube in which a locking member or bar 21 is slidably mounted. The locking bar 21 is operated by means of a handle 22 from the outside of the door, and is provided with apertures 23 which engage with the hook-shaped keepers 24 mounted in the wall of the locker 1. In opening the door, the handle 22 is pulled upwardly to disengage the bar 21 from the keepers 24 to unlatch the door, provided the bar is not locked by the lever 14; and in closing the door the inclined surfaces on the ends of the keepers 24 engage the upper ends of the apertures 23 and move the bar up so that it will fall into and engage with the notches in the keepers when the door is closed.

When the upper door is closed the lower end of the bar 14 is thereby swung outwardly so that the finger 25, mounted on the lower end, overlies the upper end of the bar V2l and prevents that bar from being raised to unlock the door. Then when the upper door is locked as by means of a padlock or the lock 26, both doors are secured.

A yieldable connection is provided between the lever 14 and the bar 21 to enable the lower door to be closed after the corresponding upper door has been closed. Alternative means for accomplishing this end are shown in Figs. 4 and 6. In the construction shown in Fig. 4, extension 27 is riveted to the upper end of the bar 21. Then, if the upper door is closed first., the rocking lever 14 will occupy its position without preventing the closing of t-he lower door, smce the extension 27 will be pressed aside by the .linger 25 after the bar has been lifted by the cam surfaces on the keepers 24. After the door closes the bar drops down, whereupon the extension 27 will spring into position underneath the projecting finger 25 on the lever 14. It will be understood that the lever 14 may be enclosed in a housing so as to be inaccessible where it passes through the lower hat compartment 6, such housing being omitted from the drawings for the sake of clearness.

In the construction shown in Fig. 6, the linger 25 is mounted on the lower end of an extension member 28, which is pivoted to the main body portion of the lever 14. The extension member 28 is provided with a stop or projection 29, which overlies the forward edge of the bar 14 and thus limits the forward swing of the lower end of the eXtension member 28. The spring 30 is riveted to the lever 14 and bears against the rear surface of the member 28 to urge the lower end thereof forwardly. In this construction,

siderable space is economized by providing the vertical coat compartments, arranged side by side, with the hat compartments one above the other and over the coat compartments. An ordinary form of key-operated tumbler lock 26 or a padlock may be used, and the simple form of rocking lever` 14 may be provided without requiring sJecial structural changes in the parts of tie locker. The lever 14 occupies but little space and may be of light construction, since the thrusts are all edgewise of the bar. The upper door may, of course, be opened or closed independently of the lower door, and also may be closed and locked while the lower door is still open. The lower door may be closed as desired, either before or after the up er door is closed, but cannot be opened wliile the upper door is closed.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and described and a slight modification indicated, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the s irit of this invention as defined by the fo owing claims.

I claim:

1. In a locker, two superposed swinging doors, a bar movably mounted on the swinging edge of one door for locking the same, a rocking lever mounted in the locker and adapted to be swung by the other door to obstruct the unlocking movement of said bar when both doors are closed and yielding means associated with said lever and bar so that said one door may be closed after said other door has been closed.

2. In a locker, an upper door and a lower door, said doors being vertically hinged with their swinging edges at the same side, a latching bar movably mounted at the swing' ing edge of the lower door and arranged to latch the door when moved downward, a lever pivoted to the locker in a position such that when the upper end is shifted by the upper door when closed, the lower end will engage the latching bar. E

3. In a locker, an upper'gioor and a lower door hinged to the locker with their swin ing edges in superposed relation, *a bar sli ably mounted on the swinging edge of the lower door for latchin' the same when moved downwardly, and a rocking lever liu pivotally mounted in the locker, the lower end of the lever being arranged to obstruct said bar to prevent raising the bar, resilient means for retracting the lever from the bar, and the upper end -of said lever coacting with said upper door to rock thev lever so that its lower end obstructs the unlatching of said bar when the upper door is closed.

4. In a locker, two doors hinged to the locker in superposed relation, a latching bar movably mounted on the swinging edge of the lower door, said bar being moved upwardly for unlatching the door and downwardly for latching the same, a rocking lever pivotally mounted in the locker and having its upper end positioned in the path of the swinging edge of the upper door so as to be moved thereby to swing the lower end of the lever into engaging relation with the bar for preventing the bar from being lifted'to unlatch the lower door, one of said f parts being yieldable so that the lower door may be closed after the upper door has been able latch bar mounted on the swinging edge l of the lower door, said bar movable upwardly for unlatching the door and downwardly for latching, and a lever medially pivoted on the locker and having the upper end moved inwardly by the upper door when closed and the lower end thereby moved outwardly to overlay said bar in latched position, the lower portion of said lever being ieldably jointed to allow the lower door to be closed after the upperv door has been closed. i

Signed at Aurora, Illinois, this day of February, 1927.

EvRETT DEE KASER. 

